Happy Tears: a Timelady's Story
by Jadables124
Summary: **WRITTEN BEFORE SEASON 7 FINALE, DIFFERENT CLARA THEORY** Since leaving Gallifrey, Saffron, a young Timelady, spent her time discovering the wonders of Earth in her TARDIS. However, when she literally runs into a timelord in a bowtie who goes by the name "the Doctor" and his companion, Clara, her vacation plans go askew. Who is this man, and why does he act so strange around her?
1. Chapter 1 - A Strange Discovery

I sat. I just sat there. It was the first time I had just SAT in a long time. Back home, it was all work.

I'm pretty sure I'm in Florida. No wait... California. DEFINATELY California. The taste of the air tells me so, haha. I'm in California! I laugh out loud. I look to the woman on the beach 5.3 meters from me (exactly), "I'm in California!" She looks at me and awkwardly smiles, and slowly turns away. Must be a flaw in character, I think. Or... I need to work on my Earth etiquette.

It was funny. I had traveled to England, Ontario, Maui, Sydney, more...and now California... All in one day. Well, not one day for me, of course.

I had found the perfect day. The day where every tolerable place on Earth was even more tolerable, all at the same time. So I went back and was keeping a count on all the places that were perfect in this one day. I opened my eyes again and looked up. The sun was just above my head, and moving quickly. Bloody hell, I thought, I was going to go parachuting! I can't come back here today again! I can't risk a paradox... So I got up off my beach chair and found that unreliable-looking man promising me a "vacation experience to remember". I cant express enough how much fun danger is. What's the fun in choosing an actual trained pilot to drop you out of the sky? I got into the man's van and he took me on a drive to his rickety old plane and suited me up in an actual decent-looking parachute. As the plane climbed into the air, I looked over Flor- no! California, and I sighed. Earth was so beautiful. If I could actually get involved in some important historical events, my visit would be WAY more fun. The pilot gave me the "shoo! Go!" signal, so, with my two hearts beating, I jumped out of the old-fashioned flying machine.

•••••

That was not how i imagined skydiving. How was I supposed to know that the parachute wouldn't shoot out? If I hadnt used my sonic, I would have ended my vacation early in "Cali-Florida" (i get the name mixed up way too often. I move too quickly in my vacation to get the names of cities right!"

As I lay on the beach, the sun started to set. This is why I wanted to travel to Earth. Everything on Gallifrey was so... red. On earth, it was so colourful and different wherever you went, bo matter if it was the same day or not. So I sat on the beach, watching the gold sand glow golder than usual and the palm leaves glitter in the light on the setting sun. And when the sun was down, I thought... where too next?

The question was, where HADNT'T I been in the last months? where should I go? London? No, been there and done that. Canada? Nah, too cold... Italy? Italy! I would go to Rome! I would need to make sure that the TARDIS would translate my name...

I had begun to call myself Saffron. I like it... but it wasnt my Gallifreyan name. I couldnt say that name on Earth, though; people would think of me strangely. They might even get suspicious. My Gallifreyan name seemed just too... Gallifreyan. I also had begun to call the TARDIS a name; Genine. Reminds me of the word "genuine", which is what she is. I gave her a name so that if someone asks me where I go at night, I can just say "I'm meeting my friend Genine." Makes it easier to say without thinking twice. Also, makes me feel less lonely.

I was running back to her when suddenly I saw something. A blue box in the alley. Being, well... me, I knew what it was. It was a public police call box from the United Kingdom, around the 1960s in my knowledge. But what was it doing in Cali-Florida, 2015?

I investigated. I walked around the box, jumped in a crate to check out the windows, opened the "Pull to Open" sign to investigate the "phone", only to see that it was...fake?! I knew what this was! It was a TARDIS with a broken chameleon circuit! It wasn't everyday that you saw another Timelord or Timelady on vacation in the exact same time, place and planet as you. I heard from the inside, a male's voice, "Clara, get ready to see the beautiful gardens of Raquelflufus! Get ready for your mind to be BLOWN!" I was confused; this was not the planet Raquelflufus! This was Cali-Florida! But before I could think anything else over, the doors opened, and I was ran over by a tall man in a bowtie.

"Get off of me!" I yelled. I had decided right then and there that I was going to mess with these two for getting me sidetracked. If I spent the night in Cali-Florida, it would ruin the whole vacation! I wanted to spend my whole vacation in only one day. Anyways, I needed him off of me. If this strange man felt my two hearts beating, the whole prank would be ruined.

Luckily, this guy followed directions, and he immediately got off of me, pulled me up and brushed himself off. "Sorry! I was just getting out of my..." His face crumpled up, trying to find a word to describe the TARDIS in front of me, "mobile phone". I almost laughed out loud! If you were trying the be discreet about owning a bloody time machine, would you really call it a MOBILE phone? I liked this man; he obviously didn't care if people got suspicious of him! I immediately ended the prank. I was looking to find a way to bring him to Genine when he suddenly looked around and brushed past me.

He got a hold of his surroundings he sniffed the air, whispering "humid...", and suddenly advanced down the alleyway. He picked up a piece of palm leave and licked it, smacked his lips and turned around. "Clara, sorry, must have messed up the coordinates. We are in CALIFORNIA, not the planet of the Fulridio bird." A shout came from inside the "mobile phone", "Cali? Well, Doctor, we might as well stay! I've always wanted to go to California!" The man, who I now knew could not think up an ordinary Earth name to give himself, rolled his eyes. "We'll, come on then!", he shouted as he advanced down he alley to the beach. Suddenly a very pretty girl with brown hair emerged from the TARDIS. She must be Clara. But...something was suspicious. I felt attached to her in some way.


	2. Chapter 2 - the Mad Man and the Nanny

They walked along, all the way to the beach. The man called the "Doctor" pulled out a sonic from his pocket and buzzed around. To the people around, be must have looked like a child playing with a toy. Meanwhile, I talked with Clara.

She said, "So, are you from around here? I know I'm not."

"Me neither. I'm on vacation."

"Vacation? It's awful late for a girl your age to be walking around alone here. I mean, you shouldn't walk around ANYWHERE alone this late. What is it? 11:00 at night? Where are your parents?"

She sounds like my mother. "I didn't say it was a family vacation. They're back at home. Did you say it was 11:00?!"

She looked puzzled, like she hadn't seen a girl "my age" (I looked around 15, but I was really 327. I had regenerated once or twice before) alone in the streets.

"Yes, Saffron, it's around 11:00. Wait, no paren-"

I stopped her. I needed to get back to my TARDIS! One more hour and the point of my vacation was ruined!

"I need to go!" I frantically got up, picked up my sweater, and ran off.

"Wait!" I could hear Clara yell, while the Doctor was still buzzing the air, looking for clues to why they landed in California. Suddenly I heard Clara yell again, "you dropped something! Is this... Is this a sonic screwdriver?!"

I turned around. The Doctor was staring at me. Clara had given him my sonic. "Who are you?" He whispered.

In those ten minutes of knowing the Doctor, I had learned so much about him. That he looked young, but his soul was old. That he acted young and childish, but me had the mind of a wise old man. He talked fast and comedically, and his movements were whimsical. He was wonderful. I thought I knew him so well.

Ten minutes can't tell you anything, I guess. The Doctor was there, on the beach, holding my small, silver sonic "screwdriver" (what a funny name! I should use that!) and looking at me with a mixture of intense fear, unknowing, cautiousness, and anger. I didn't know you could have those emotions all at once. He also had a look of surprise... And sadness... And confusion. He yelled at me again.

"WHO ARE YOU!? Where could you get a sonic? HOW could you get a sonic?"

I was silent. How could he go from playing with his sonic to criminalizing me for having one of my own?

"It's mine! What did you expect? It's not like I stole it!"

His face was dazed. "How could you own a SONIC? You look, what, 14? You couldn't MAKE one..."

Why wasn't he considering me a Timelady?

I couldn't talk about this right now. I needed to get to Rome. It looked to be around 11:15, but I was a beginner to the TARDIS. I stole it, after all. A type 39 TARDIS. She was my only friend out here. I needed Genine bad right now.

"Doctor. I need to hurry, ok? Is something wrong? I'm a Timelady! Made better assumptions next time, okay?!", I yelled, "I need to get out of Flor-no, HERE, before midnight. Don't ask why." I would have to change my plans. Rome would have to be later. "Meet me in London, just follow my TARDIS. Put a tracker on it, I don't know."

I ran to the Doctor, grabbed my silver and purple sonic screwdriver from his hand, and ran to Genine, leaving Clara with a look of confusion looking at the Doctor, and the Doctor... the Doctor had a tear rolling down his awestruck face.

I finally reached Genine. She was nestled in a thin alley, and her chameleon circuit had disguised her as a... dumpster. Strange, she usually hid herself as something more attractive. Like a nice phone booth. I loved phone booths. But a dumpster? I walked up to her and stroked her dumpster wall. "You miss me?". She replied with a noise... Almost like "vweeeeooo". I didn't even know how to describe it, but she made the noise whenever she landed, and it made you feel warm inside, like she was a mother welcoming you home. Well, that's kind of what she was. My home.

I snapped my fingers and the doors opened. I just can't explain the inside of my TARDIS. I had heard that before I stole her, her console was an icy blue. But as soon as I stepped in, as soon as I stole her away, she was... Mine. The console was circular and covered with buttons and pumps, a bell and hammer, levers and handles... But the thing I loved about the place was that it looked like a flying sunset. The walls were gold with large and small glass bubbles and round windows, and they shimmered when the red time rotor glowed on them. It was beautiful.

I rushed in and immediately started pulling all the levers, punching in Gallifreyan coordinates, and pulled the take-off lever.

Ever since I stole my TARDIS away, I had known how to fly her. There is no TARDIS flight school. The way it worked was that if you had found your TARDIS, the one meant for you, she told you how to fly. Of course, if she liked you, she would also give you some flying lessons... but when she was yours, you might as well be one person, separated only by bodies.

As she took off, the whole places started to shake, and she made the noise. I laughed.

She made her final landing noise with a jolt, and I fell back, only holding on by the overhead railing.

Bouncing up, I grabbed my sonic and ran- no, sprinted- outside.

I looked at my TARDIS for a little bit. She had turned herself into a red phone booth, just like last time in London! I smiled, and turned around. My smile grew when I saw a blue box with a bowtied man leaning on her, the same tear still on his cheek. With a grin, he said,

"Saffron, tell me. Please. Who are you".


	3. Chapter 3 - A Lost Timelady

We were in the Doctor's TARDIS, Genine parked in the ally across. Sitting in the Dining Room. I didn't even know that TARDIS's had dining rooms. Then again, I hadn't explored Genine past her bedrooms and closet, and once, the swimming pool. The dining room could have been a six star restaurant, with it's exquisite designs and beautiful chandelier. However, we weren't focused on the dining room.

The Doctor was acting strange. Like he had never seen a Timelady before. And Clara... Clara had seemed confused beyond belief when I met her in the icy white and blue console room of the Doctor's TARDIS. The Doctor seemed to have clued her in to whatever was going on, because she seemed as interested and mystified as the Doctor himself.

"So, why did you take a vacation? Gallifrey is... is... home. Saffron, why would you leave?!" He said.

"I don't know, I got bored. Doctor, Gallifrey was everything to me. The thing is... a dalek came. It just landed and started exploring. It killed a Timelord. I... I knew something was going on. But no one listened! They just tried to fight it. Well, I needed a break from all the let-downs, so when all these Timelords were out fighting the dalek, I snuck and stole a TARDIS.

But here's the thing; when I was flying away, I saw the huge dalek ship. The mother ship, you could say. And they started shooting at me. At that point, Doctor, I just ran. But I know why they were there. They were just coming back for the one on Gallifrey. They wouldn't let a 'beautiful creature of hatrid' die".

The Doctor looked horrified. "I only ran because of the ship! I could have died! So could have my TARDIS!"

"No", he said "I would have done the same thing. It's just... the dalek."

I heard him whisper, "it all started with one".

• • •

Saffron just sat still and polite, a little mesmerized by my TARDIS's dining room. I wasn't surprised. She probably never thought to access hsped incense, by the sound of it, all she did was travel around the Blue Planet and sleep. However, I still couldnt believe what she had nust said to me. I wasnt the only one left?

And yet she was impossible! How could she have escaped the Tome Lock I put on Gallifrey? How could she be here?! Clara looked at me and whispered so Saffron wouldn't notice "what do you mean, it all started with one?"

I looked down at the little Timelady, anat whispered to Clara so Saffron wouldn't hear. "The Time War. One dalek came, and set the radar for the others. After that... Everything and everyone I loved was eventually wiped out."

Clara looked at me, her eyes beginning to water, "Doctor... she can travel with us, right?"

• • •

The Doctor asked me tons of questions. I answered all of them. What year was it when you left? How long have you been traveling? Things like that.

After a while, I decided to come clean. "Look Doctor, I've been gone for a while, and I've been thinking of home a lot. Like, every second second," I laughed, "but... I like traveling more. Seeing all the different people, other than those grumpy Timelord teachers.. it's a thrill... and it's beautiful. Doctor, I'm so glad I met you. Because not only is it nice to have met you because, well, I was getting lonely, but I am so glad because now I can travel properly. So Doctor, I want to see the universe, but I have nowhere to start. Do you mind if I follow you around in my TARDIS for a bit?"

The Doctor looked at me with an expression of pure happiness on his face. A happy tear rolled down his cheek.

"Saffron, it would be my PLEASURE to have you travel with me." He looked at Clara, who also now had her eyes watering up.

Then I startled him. I ran up and hugged him. I could feel his two hearts beating. He was taken back in surprise. And then he hugged me back. I looked into his eyes. They were stained with happy tears. I never understood happy-crying. Why cry when you were happy? That's what laughing was for.

"And when I decide to go home, just to check up on it for a little while, you can come! And see your friends!"

His smile quivered. Another tear fell. Were... we're those still happy tears? Had I upset him? No... no... everything was ok."

I no longer cared about my "one day plan".

•••••

I don't even know how long we traveled for. Who cares, though. I think today was our... 3rd year? We had been to almost everywhere on earth... And more. We had been to other planets, met different people... And we did something different then what I was used to. We saved people. I thought it was against Gallifreyan law to mess with other timelines and events, but we did it anyways... it felt amazing.

Today is my 330th birthday, and I'm so lucky to spend it with the Doctor. He took me to a museum on Earth, in London, the place we truly met each other. The year was 2056. We went straight to the old, dusty ancient Egypt exhibit. We had been there, and we had traveled the desert with King Tut.

"Come along, 'Ron." He smiled. He said it so faintly, as if the sentence has sentimental value to him. I followed, linking arms with Clara.

Clara confused me. I was sure I had never seen her before... but like the Doctor to that phrase, I felt strangely attached to her, as if we were connected in some way. I guess we were just meant to travel together. Fate.

The Doctor took us to some hieroglyphics, and said, "Saffron, here is your birthday present." I looked carefully, and then I saw it. Painted in the rock was the Doctor, Clara, the Blue Box, a red telephone booth (Genine's Chameleon Circuit had gotten stuck; but I admit, I liked it better that way!), and me holding hands with King Tut. It was amazing! I didn't even think of breaking the Gallifreyan law. Just the sight of me, etched permanently in history was an epic thought.

And suddenly... it happened fast. I could only capture bits of it in my mind. Someone rushed by. A robber. He was holding something; probably something important, because the museum security was screaming for everyone to get down. The robber had a gun. The Doctor and Clara were on the ground. So were the other observers in the museum. But... I don't know why, it was probably because I had saved people with the Doctor, but I wanted to stop him. I needed to. So I ran after them.

"NO!" yelled Clara.

I was a fast runner; you had to be, when running with the Doctor. I caught up to the robber, and grabbed him. I don't know why I just expected him to stop. He turned around... And shot. A gun. At me. He stopped and looked dazed. He probably was stunned that he just shot a "child". Security came and caught him while he was distracted. I had succeeded, he had been caught. I heard the Doctor and Clara screech to a halt behind me, I heard Clare scream, and I felt a hand on my shoulder. It was the Doctor's hand.

"Saffron. Get back to the TARDIS. NOW."

I wondered why, but not for long. When I reached back to brush his hand off me, I saw... my hands had begun to glow gold.

All I could remember after half-fainting (mostly from shock) was the Doctor hoisting me up into a cradling position and running to Genine, showing psychic paper to any security guard in our path. He opened the doors without trouble; my TARDIS must have recognized myself in danger. Basically, the Doctor just let me down and ran, pulling Clara to the farthest corner of the console room for their safety, and mine. After that, I just exploded.

• • •

I suddenly stopped blowing up. Was I in one piece? Well, I couldn't really think if my head wasn't on my bod- new teeth. That was weird. They were straighter.

"Okay, lets count, Saff," I said to myself, "two feet. Two hands. One body- Doctor! Clara! Hi! -ten toes, it feels like. Clothes baggy-er, must have gotten thinner! Nose, eyes, ears... ? What? Do I have DIMPLES? Never had those before!"

I looked over at Clara and the Doctor. Clara seemed... Mystified, kind if scared, but mostly just speechless. The Doctor was staring at me with a half smile, relieved I was okay... But amused at my pep?

"Doctor! Oi! What are you laughing at? Do ya like it?," I exclaimed. Wait... "Am I cocky? Was that cocky? Why can't I think!" The Doctor was acting like he hasn't seem a regeneration before! He was just staring at me and laughing at my new behaviour, because even I knew that I was very different.

I needed to see myself. I just sprinted to the bathrooms, to the mirrors. My hair was brown, and straight, and shiny, and around an inch past shoulder length. I hadn't even paid attention to my old appearance; all I remembered was blonde hair and bland features. I put my hand flat in my head; I was around 4.2 inches taller.

I DID have dimples! And brown eyes, and my voice sounded like a honey waterfall. And I was HUNGRY!

I sprinted back to the console room and slid on the glass floor over to the Doctor. "Rescue me, Chin Boy, and show me the kitchen!"


	4. Chapter 4 - New You

**AUTHORS NOTE: Hey you guys! I just have a couple things to say: first, the reason the chapters are coming out so quickly is because the story is already written. I wrote this story a while ago, and just thought of putting out on this site, so all I really need to do is copy and paste them together; good news to you guys! Second of all, I just want to make sure you guys know that this story WAS written before the Name of the Doctor, so all Clara theories maybe pointed out are completely irrelevant to the current episodes. thats all! No. Read on!***

"What was... That?" Said the Doctor.

"Um... I'm hungry! I want... A triple thick milkshake.. And yoghurt!" I knew it was the regeneration talking, but my stomach was just yearning for something... Anything to fill it.

The Doctor looked at me with wide eyes. "No... No-no-no-no... before that. Saffron, what did you just call me?!"

"I called you Chin Boy! Now GENIE SHOW ME THE KITCHEN!" I clapped my hands.

"Saffron", he said, ignoring my rude after-regeneration comments,"why did you call me Chin Boy?" He turned to Clara. "Did you tell her? Did you show her? Please Clara! Tell me!" She shook her head. The Doctor looked confused-but I needed food!

"Please Doctor, if it makes you feel any better, I'm change your name to... Lets say, Nina. But Doctor, you've regenerated before, you know how it feels. And by that, I mean to have a stomach that feels like an empty ocean. And it needs to be FILLED." I would have to find out if I was this fiesta and outgoing or if it was just the aftereffects... After a carton of ice cream was in my mouth.

Finally, I got my food. He made me something so, SO strange. Fish fingers dipped in a bowl of vanilla custard. He said it was the perfect remedy for after-regeneration craving... And it was. I was full in an instant.

Then I crashed. I literally just passed out on the table. I woke up in a bunk bed. It was weird... I felt different then when I had first regenerated. I was still peppier, and sassy, and I greatly had a craving for fish-custard, but I decided that I needed to really find out who I was now.

•••••

I didn't travel with the Doctor for a week. I explored the world on my own. I still liked risk-taking and danger, and I still didn't regret the stunt I did at the museum, but I was different.

I was sassier, adventurous, clever, and, in my opinion, a little funnier. I was a little self absorbed, which I didn't like the least, and though I hadn't felt it yet, I detected sensitivity.

I traveled and tried to find out my interests. I scuba-dived, monster-hunted, and more. Well, if I loved one thing the most over my "discovery period", it was babysitting. I could speak baby, which helped me a lot, but I understood them in other ways. Although my new body was taller and looked more mature, I still interacted with kids like I was one myself.

Nothing could prepare me for my next disinterest. It was turning night wherever I was. To be honest, I don't even remember WHERE I was. I decided to watch the sunset.

I got BORED. All these colours and beauty that had intrigued me before now did nothing for me. I just wanted to cry; and I got my wish. That's why I was sensitive.

I headed back to Nina (that's what I called my TARDIS now, because I thought we all needed a change) and was even more horrified. The whole TARDIS was... Silver and purple. There were silver columns poking out from everywhere, ceiling to floor, ceiling to wall, in a very architectural, pretty-looking way. The light of the new, purple time rotor shin against the silver columns and made them sparkle. Everything was sleek and magnificent.

It crushed me. Had I changed this much?

I ran to my room. Nothing had changed about that, and I was glad. I sat in my bunk bed crying for a long time.

Suddenly there was an arm around me. It was the Doctor. "I like the new TARDIS, 'Ron." That made me cry harder. He sighed, and gave me a fathering hug.

"Saffron. Look at yourself. Your a new person now, and yet you haven't even changed that much; you still are a brilliant kid, you just... Like new things. And look different. New people have different passions, I know that better then anyone. So, I have the perfect idea for you. Have you been to the library?"

•••••

In my old body, I had hated reading. I had thought, 'why read when you can experience?'. Now I realize that when you are reading, you ARE experiencing.

I loved the library. The Doctor had brought me to his library because Nina was stuff changing the layout in mine (the old one held little to no book, because I didn't read). It was beautiful. He seemed to have an infinite number of books, floor after floor of shelves. However, as soon as I stepped into the library, he took me to a shelf marked "Amy", and handed me a booked called Summer Falls. I hadn't the slightest idea who Amy was, but the book was the best thing I had ever read. In the next month, I had read all of the 37 books she had written. Chapter 11 was always the best. It always made you cry.

I had told Nina to replicate the Doctor's library, and she didn't disappoint me. I read almost every time I had spare time. The Doctor was right; reading was my new sunset.

Every book took me to another new world. Every book sent me on a journey I could never go to. Don't get me wrong; I loved traveling more than anything. But the best thing was when the Doctor took me to a place that was the real setting in a book. When he took me to the real 221B Baker Street, I almost screamed.

I loved fantasy, fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, mystery... Any book you put in front of me. I even listened to bottled Encyclopedia Gallifreyan. It was beautiful.

Then I found a big, thick book on a pedestal. It was labeled "The History of the Time War". Well, that looked like an interesting read! As soon as I opened it, I realized that it was a Gallifreyan history book. 'Cool' I thought, 'never read any history yet!' I read it cover to cover. Front to back; I wish I hadn't. A tear fell off my eye and plopped onto the back cover of the book.


	5. Chapter 5 - Past Life, Reborn

"DOCTOR! You lied to me! You SET ME UP!"

We were in the Doctor's TARDIS. I had told the Doctor about my discovery, the discovery I dreaded. He wasn't angry... But he looked sad.

He deserved to be.

"I did no such thing."

"You TOOK ME, an INNOCENT Time Lady, and made me believe that my home was still ALIVE. PROSPERING. How COULD you?"

He didn't say a word. His back was to me, his head hung. "I didn't tell you, because for this very reason." He talked slowly and carefully, afraid to say the wrong thing.

"You didn't inform me of my PLANET'S SUFFERING? I could have done something!"

His head hung lower.

"DOCTOR WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!"

I was in tears now. Angry tears. Sad tears. They burned on my face, like I was the Wicked Witch of the West.

Then he started to walk away. Oh NO. He wasn't leaving me, not right now. How could he leave me when I was in such pain?!

I grabbed his shoulder, "DOCTOR. If you leave right now, I will never forgive you. TELL ME why you didn't tell me that everyone I loved died. Tell me why you didn't say a word about how I AM THE ONLY TIME LADY LEFT. TELL ME WHY-"

She stopped me mid-sentence. He had swung around and belted, "BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO HURT YOU. You see yourself right now? I WANTED TO PREVENT THIS WITH MY LIFE. And when I had to tell you, I wanted us to get through it TOGETHER... and now," he quieted down, "I'm the most hated man in the history of the universe. Saffron... I'm sorry. And soon, you will hate me more."

He grabbed my face and knelt down to look into my eyes, which were tear-stained and red. His were, too. "Saffron... your like my daughter. I have been alone for so, SO long, and now you know why."

He... he thought of me as his daughter? After all this time, I had never thought about it. And now... I guess he was. I guess he was my dad.

"Doctor, I'm sorry!" I cried.

Something occurred to me. "Doctor, we break Gallifreyan law all the time. We can go back. I know we can't stop the Time War, but we can see them again. We can land on Gallifrey and see them again... Can't we?"

He frowned, tears forming in his eyes. "Saffron, this is all my fault... but we can't. We just can't."

"Doctor... what do you mean? What's not your fault?"

"Oh Saffron... please forgive me."

He told me about how we couldnt go back to our planet even if we wanted to. There was a time lock on Gallifrey that not only kept you from visiting the Time War, but anywhere else in it's timeline.

My eyes had been tearing up. Who would do such a horrible thing? Keep the Timelords and Timeladies locked up, making their home into a prison cell.

"Doctor... Then how did I get out?"

The Doctor covered his hand over his face and paced around the TARDIS. "Saffron? I honestly don't know. Either it was because you left before the... Time War... in the first place, and therefore I hadn't even locked the planet yet. But that would be a paradox, because I locked the planet from all directions, all times... Saffron, you are a crazy miracle."

I was taken aback. "D-doctor... Did you say that YOU locked the planet?"

He covered his mouth, like a child who had accidentally swore. His eyes started watering. A tear fell.

"Saffron, I-"

I was horrified. Who was this man, that for a second, I had considered a make-shift father?

"Are you telling me that the sad, lonely man I keep hearing is the one that caused his loneliness? Are you telling me that you are the reason we can't save our race?" Now... now I was angry. "Are you telling me that you are keeping me from seeing my family again? YOU are the reason we are the last ones left?!"

"Saffron... please... don't try to go-"

I didn't even listen to him. I ran out if his TARDIS, and over to Nina. I set the coordinates to Gallifrey, and suddenly... The engine smoked. The whole place shook like an earthquake was shaking the bits out of us. Sparks flew from Nina's console. She automatically landed back where she was before; next to the Doctor's TARDIS in a dark alley. I was crushed.

Then I remembered; what was the difference between the Type 39 and 40 TARDIS? Something dangerous... something sad... something that could cause my own existence to go into hyperdrive.

With this Type 39 TARDIS, I could reset my timeline to a certain point, with whatever memories I wanted. I didn't want any memories except a faint voice in my head telling me not to steal Nina and fly away.

I needed to see my family again. I couldn't help crying. I really wanted to do this, but... But would I forget? This time-rewriting business had glitches. Sometimes people lost all their memories. Sometimes people's timelines were completely destroyed, and they were reborn into different timelines an infinity number of times.

All those times with the Doctor would have to be forgotten. I couldn't risk me changing history, chickening out and stealing Nina again. All those times with the Doctor, all the times we shared... they would all be for nothing.

I would have lost my dad and my best friend.

But... I would see my family. My KIND. I wouldn't be alone.

The Doctor could come with me. But... I would have to tell him. He would think that I hated him, that I was running away. I couldn't tell him.

I slammed buttons, pulled levers, punched memories I wanted to remember into an old typewriter. I wanted to remember Nina. I always wanted to remember how she was the perfect companion.

I was all set up. Tears rolling down my face, I whispered "goodbye" and pushes the "reset button". There was a loud bang. Nina was shaking and making loud noises. I cried harder. "I'm SORRY. NINA I'LL... Miss... you..." All the energy was draining from my body. I was about to faint... When suddenly, the Doctor rushed in, Clara at his side, sonic screwdriver in hand. He sonic-ed Nina, and Nina calmed down. She had been notifying the Doctor. My energy came back; he had reversed the re-writing. I was still weak, but I got up, and immediately fell into Clara. "NO DOCTOR WHY?! WHY DOCTOR! I WANTED TO GO BACK! NO." I yelled frantically, throwing a childish tantrum. Clara sat with me in her arms, trying to calm me down with calming words and stroking my brown hair. I was staining her sweater with tears.

The doctor was hurt. "Saffron... I can't believe you would do this; after all we did together, you want to forget me? Like Don- no. She wasn't intentional. You want to risk the stability of your own life to get away from me?"

No! It wasn't like that! But I didn't have the energy to speak. I just fell asleep on Clara's shoulder.


	6. Chapter 6 - Choices, Endings, Beginnings

When I woke up, I was in my bed. My head aching, I almost didn't remember what had happened last night that had palmist ruined my relationship with the Doctor... but of course, my memory had to redeem itself, and my mood was ruined.

I saw the Doctor in the doorway. He was leaning against the doorframe, looking down with a serious look on his face.

"Saffron... Do you really want to go home?" He said.

I was tired, but I could still answer him with an, "I don't know. I really don't know what's going on."

I could remember doing something with Nina and being near to fainting yesterday, but I couldn't remember why or how.

"Doctor, why can't I remember half of what happened yesterday night?"

He replied, "Saffron, you hit the reset button on your timeline. You can't remember because when you hit that button, it wipes out all your memories but the ones you want and the things you should know after your timeline is reset; Your name. Your race. Important names of family and friends. They are all remembered, but when you hit that button you started with forgetting recent events."

I remembered now. "I don't know what I want to do, Doctor."

The Doctor looked less serious and more like a friend. "Well, Saffron, if you stay with me... We can have the best of times. But if you go... You have to forget all we did, and you might even have to die in war against the dalek's. Then again, you WILL see your family again. But..." He paused, "am I more your family, or are the other Gallifreyans? It won't be breathtaking when you return. It would be like you never left."

I suddenly said, "come with me! You can go home!"

He smiled and looked right into my eyes. He had wise, old man's eyes. Eyes that could tell me anything. "Saffron, the universe is my home. The TARDIS is my home. I couldn't leave. I couldn't leave Clara... I have yet to find out who she is."

I didn't understand what last part, but I guessed it was personal.

I decided. "Doctor, this is hard for me, but I need to be there for my family, my friends, in their time of war. I will miss you, Doctor. I'm going to make sure I remember you. Even just a bit. Whenever, on Gallifrey, someone says "doctor," I will make it so I remember you just for a second. Because that's all it takes, a second to remember the times we had.

Doctor, I need to go home."

•••••

I hated to have to go. I really did. I had typed into that damned typewriter that I wanted to remember him every time the word was mentioned, but I always found myself typing "I don't want to forget". Anything. I didn't want to forget anything. Not Nina, not the Doctor, not Clara, not the times we all shared. I wanted to remember everything. But if I did, I swear it would drive me mad, because I would know that I couldn't ever again see my father, my friend, and my companion.

And yet, I had asked the Doctor to help get the TARDIS set up for me. I still couldn't stand the thought of my race dying forever in a time-locked black hole of war. I needed to be there. Being the only Timelady left made me feel guilty, like I should have been down there with them.

Did the Doctor feel that guilt? Did the Doctor feel so lonely that he just wanted to unlock Gallifrey for his own good? He was certainly a mad-man, but I never thought that loneliness could have caused it.

Clara was hugging me. She was crying. "I know you won't end up remembering me saying this, but... Stay safe. Don't get yourself killed." She was like a nanny. It was ironic for her to say that; I was going to get killed by a Dalek at one point, I knew. And if I did, if the Doctor found that Dalek, he wouldn't see the light again.

"Your ready." Said the Doctor blankly. He was really taking this hard. Then again, I was too.

"Hit the button. Get it over with. Please. I need to see them again."

And so he did. Immediately, all the energy left my body. Already, I was hanging on to my memories.

I fell, and the Doctor caught me. He just sat there, cradling me, tears falling off his face. "Doctor... Can I tell you something?"

Doctor, I want you to know that we had the best of times. You took care of me like a dad. And Clara, you are my best friend. I literally can't explain how much fun I had with you two. You saved me from being bored to death with my "one day vacation", put me in Egyptian history, and helped me find my new self after regeneration. You changed my life, Doctor. I wouldn't be the girl I am today without you.

That's what I wanted to say. I didn't have the energy, so what I did say was "I'm gonna miss you." That pretty much summed it up.

Clara, the nanny, was not crying, because she knew it would be harder for me. The Doctor had little tears though. "Doctor, why are you sad? This is happy," I tried to cheer him up, "I'm gonna see them again."

He smiled. "I'm happy crying, Saffron. Completely and utterly happy crying. And so are you."

I, with all my energy, reached up and touched my face. He was right. Happy tears rained down. I... I finally understood it. You cried when you were happy because some things are just to great to laugh about.

"Doctor..." It was getting harder to talk now, "you've known me long enough, and you're part of my race, so you won't freak out when I ask... would you like to know my name? It's the least I could do. We are too close for you NOT to know my real name".

He smiled and leaned in for me to whisper, because we both knew that Clara couldn't hear my name, no matter how much I loved her.

He leaned away. His face was confused. "Saffron... if you translate your name to English... what does it say?" I had never thought about it.

Suddenly, my body glowed gold. I knew what was going to happen next. "Hey, Clever Boy. Remember me." The last thing I saw before I slowly disappeared was the Doctor's surprised face, and him yelling, "CLARA!"...

•••••

I sat at home. I felt as if something important had just happened. "I just need a walk," I thought as I strolled through the red grass.

•••••

"She's YOU!" The Doctor yelled at me.

"Um, Doctor... why would you think a little Timelady girl was me?"

"Her name... her last words, the things she said after she regenerated, she's good with children..."

"Um, Doctor, her name is in Gallifreyan. What's about her name?"

"It translated into English, Clara. Any language can. It said Clara."

The Doctor had told me a long time ago about how he had seen before, and how I died. I thought he was crazy. I really did. But sometimes you just have to accept the impossible when you travel with the Doctor.

"Ok. So her name was the same as mine."

"Clara. Remember your wifi password? Rycbar? Run you clever boy and remember? Those were almost her exact last wor-"

"How do you know my computer password? Did I say it out loud again?"

The Doctor brushed my comment off. "It could be possible. That timeline thing she used... it has glitches. Her timeline could have been messed up. Born into different timelines, sometimes born into a different race... a different planet."

He looked at me and gave me that boyish grin.

It seemed to make sense to him, but to me, it was all a big jumble. The Doctor's speech was always a jumble of unknown words. But I did get it. I was Saffron; or rather, I was Clara.

The Doctor hugged me. One of those "I missed you" or "I'm glad your save" or even "never again" hugs. The hug that only the Doctor and children's parents had mastered.

"Clara... Clara, we know who you are. We know who you are!"

Fine.

**AUTHORS NOTE: Well, hope you liked it! I know I didn't really follow the real Clara theory, but I already warned you that this was written before the Name of the Doctor, so ya; anyways, I really hope you liked the story!**


End file.
